Ex-Spur Jefferson ready in limited role

Published 10:02 pm, Sunday, May 5, 2013

Photo: Lance Iversen /

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

Warriors 32-year-old forward Richard Jefferson (44) averaged a career-low 10.1 minutes and 3.1 points during the regular season. “I don't feel like an old guy; just another basketball player,” he said.

Warriors 32-year-old forward Richard Jefferson (44) averaged a career-low 10.1 minutes and 3.1 points during the regular season. “I don't feel like an old guy; just another basketball player,” he said.

Photo: Lance Iversen /

Image 2 of 2

Golden State Warriors guard Jarrett Jack (2) drives the ball up courts against Portland Trail BlazersEric Maynor (6) in the first half of their NBA basketball game Saturday, March 30, 2013 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. less

Golden State Warriors guard Jarrett Jack (2) drives the ball up courts against Portland Trail BlazersEric Maynor (6) in the first half of their NBA basketball game Saturday, March 30, 2013 at the Oracle Arena ... more

Photo: The Chronicle

Ex-Spur Jefferson ready in limited role

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Relegated to a deep reserve role for the Golden State Warriors this season, former Spurs forward Richard Jefferson will open Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals certain he will be in uniform, ready to play when asked.

Stephen Jackson, the veteran swingman the Spurs acquired when they traded Jefferson to the Warriors in March of last season, will be at AT&T Center only if he can get his hands on a ticket.

“I wouldn't say it's ironic,” Jefferson, 32, said of the fact Jackson, the player the Spurs preferred, was waived with four games remaining in the regular season. “I don't wish anything negative on Stephen. It was a move they made for the good of the franchise.”

The numbers that drove the trade for Jackson weren't scoring averages or field-goal percentages. The number that mattered most was the difference between the seasons left on his contract (two years at $21.2 million) compared to Jackson's (one at $10.06 million).

“I knew Stephen had one year less on his deal,” Jefferson said. “It also gave them an opportunity to put Kawhi Leonard in the starting lineup. He's the future of this Spurs franchise.”

Most Popular

Jefferson played an average of just 10.1 minutes in only 56 regular-season games in 2012-13 while scoring 3.1 points per game, all career lows.

He knows he doesn't figure prominently in the Warriors' future plans, even though he is scheduled to earn slightly more than $11 million next season unless he exercises a player option to get out of the deal.

Though he played 207 games in his two-plus seasons with the Spurs, Jefferson doesn't expect Warriors coach Mark Jackson to consult with him as he plans for Game 1.

“Mark Jackson is a great young coach in this league, and it sounds funny to say that,” he said. “In coaching he's young, but he just went against one of the winningest coaches (Denver's George Karl) in NBA history, a guy that's been in the playoffs 10 straight years. He loses his All-Star in Game 1 and makes the necessary adjustments and game-plan discipline to get that series win.

“There's nothing I can tell him that he doesn't know and he won't be prepared for. If you don't know Tim Duncan, if you don't know Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, then there's not much I could say to help you.”

Jackson expects Jefferson to help on the court, not in the film room.

“I think Richard, a guy that's been around, doesn't just help us in this series,” he said. “He helps us every single night, no matter who we're facing. I don't want to minimize him.”